The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in the 18th century that emphasized reason, individualism, and secular thinking. It developed in response to the Scientific Revolution as scholars and philosophers began questioning traditional authority in areas like government, religion, and education. Major Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Beccaria, and Wollstonecraft proposed new ideas about natural rights, separation of powers, freedom of thought, abolishing torture, and women's equality that influenced governments and constitutions in Europe and the Americas.
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in the 18th century that emphasized reason, individualism, and secular thinking. It developed in response to the Scientific Revolution as scholars and philosophers began questioning traditional authority in areas like government, religion, and education. Major Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Beccaria, and Wollstonecraft proposed new ideas about natural rights, separation of powers, freedom of thought, abolishing torture, and women's equality that influenced governments and constitutions in Europe and the Americas.
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in the 18th century that emphasized reason, individualism, and secular thinking. It developed in response to the Scientific Revolution as scholars and philosophers began questioning traditional authority in areas like government, religion, and education. Major Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Beccaria, and Wollstonecraft proposed new ideas about natural rights, separation of powers, freedom of thought, abolishing torture, and women's equality that influenced governments and constitutions in Europe and the Americas.
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in the 18th century that emphasized reason, individualism, and secular thinking. It developed in response to the Scientific Revolution as scholars and philosophers began questioning traditional authority in areas like government, religion, and education. Major Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Beccaria, and Wollstonecraft proposed new ideas about natural rights, separation of powers, freedom of thought, abolishing torture, and women's equality that influenced governments and constitutions in Europe and the Americas.
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The Enlightenment in Europe
In the wake of the Scientific Revolution, and the new ways of thinking it prompted, scholars and philosophers began to reevaluate old notions about other aspects of society. They sought new insight into the underlying beliefs regarding government, religion, economics, and education. Their efforts spurred the Enlightenment, a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems. Known also as the Age of Reason, the movement reached its height in the mid-1700s and brought great change to many aspects of Western civilization.
I. Major Ideas of the Enlightenment
Thinker
Idea
Impact
Locke (1632-1704) England
Natural rights life,
liberty, property
Fundamental to U.S. Declaration of
Independence
Montesquieu (16891755) France
Separation of powers
France, United States, and Latin
American nations use separation of powers in new constitutions
Voltaire (1694-1778) France
Freedom of thought and
expression
Guaranteed in U.S. Bill of Rights
and French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen; European monarchs reduce or eliminate censorship
Beccaria (1738-1794) Italy
Abolishment of torture
Guaranteed in U.S. Bill of Rights;
torture outlawed or reduced in nations of Europe and the Americas
Wollstonecraft (17591797) England
Womens equality
Womens rights groups form in
Europe and North America
Voltaire
Religious freedom
Guaranteed in U.S. Bill of Rights
and French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen; European monarchs reduce
persecution
II. In your own words:
Locke is important because . . .
Montesquieu is important because . . .
Voltaire is important because . . .
Beccaria is important because . . .
Wollstonecraft is important because . . .
III. Biography and Ranking
Lets examine these Enlightenment thinkers places on the Biography of the Millennium list.
IV. Primary Sources
John Locke Second Treatise on Government Frederick the Great Essay on Government
